
Class___C^SjlL 
Book .E.26 




JAMES T. EDWARDS. 



THE EDWARDS FAMILY 



BY ... 



JAMES T. EDWARDS, D. D., LL. D. 



For Private Circulation. 



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RANDOIvPH, N. Y.: 

THE RANDOI,PH PUBL,ISHING COMPANY. 

1903- 



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INTRODUCTION 



In hours of enforced inactivity my thoughts turn to 
early days, and to the associations connected with kindred 
and friends. Born on the Jersey shore, the sea always 
possessed for me an unfailing charm. 

From the east veranda of my home, we could every 
night watch the flash of the great lighthouse lamp as it 
sent its friendly rays far over the breakers which gave the 
name to inlet, bay, and village — Barende-gat, from the 
Dutch, meaning Breakers Inlet, In imagination, I revisit 
the islands and beaches for wild fowl, and sail the channels 
and creeks for blue fish, weak fish, sheepshead, striped 
bass, barb, and sea bass. Again I frolic with boy com- 
panions in the beautiful grove west of the school house, 
its great oaks and pines standing almost clear from under- 
brush, making it a very paradise for children, birds and 
squirrels. 

My father was a carpenter and builder. He was indus- 
trious, self-respecting, honorable and prosperous. He was 
always public spirited and held many offices of trust, beside 
serving two terms in the Legislature. For many years he 
was a local preacher. Being possessed of an agreeable 
voice and native eloquence, added to an ingratiating man- 
ner, his services were much in demand. 

My mother, before her marriage, was a teacher, and I 
owe to her encouragement and sacrifices the advantages of 



4 THE EDWARDS FAMILY 

a liberal education. Our home was a very busy and happy 
one. In those early days, the Barnegat Methodist church 
belonged to a circuit under a preacher in charge, with an 
assistant. The circuit sometimes extended from Tom's 
River to West Creek. When quarterly meetings were held, 
friends came from near and far, and we had a house full of 
guests, and a stable full of horses. Those were pleasant 
days, and father and mother were never happier than when 
ministering to the comfort of their friends. 

Many of my ancestors were Quakers, some of whom 
fled from persecution in the old country to secure liberty 
of conscience in this. My great-grandfather Edwards, 
however, was a Methodist and joined its communion before 
the Revolutionary war. 

I have recorded in this book some facts in regard to 
my kith and kin. In so doing, I wish to acknowledge my 
great obligations to Hon. Edwin Salter and I\Irs. Leah 
Blackman. 

Mr. Salter was one of my early teachers. The school 
children all loved bim, and it was a pleasant sight to see 
him go out of the old school house lane with the young- 
sters clustering around him like bees around a blossoming 
apple bough. He had an excellent miscellaneous library 
from which I drew long, sweet draughts of knowledge. 

Mr. Salter later became a member of the Legislature, 
and for a time occupied the speaker's chair. He afterwards 
received an appointment to a position in the U. S. Treas- 
ury Department which he retained for many years. 

He was an active member of the New Jersey Historical 
Society, and contributed many articles to current literature 
on local and historical subjects, besides being the author 
of a valuable work entitled, *' History of Monmouth and 
Ocean Counties," from which I have freely drawn. 

Mrs. Leah Blackman of Tuckerton, N. J., was a 
descendant of " Great John Mathis," who came to this 



THE EDWARDS FAMILY 5 

country about 1700. In 1880 she published a book entitled 
" History of Families in Eastern New Jersey," which is an 
enduring monument to her industry and accuracy of re- 
search. Fortunately the Quakers, or Friends, were careful 
to preserve their family records, and these have been of 
great assistance in tracing genealogical lines. 



THE EDWARDS FAMILY 



GENEALOGY OF THE EDWARDS-HAYWOOD 

FAMILY. 

My father, Job Edwards, was the son of James Ed- 
wards, 2d, who was the son of James Edwards, ist, who 
served in the Colonial, F'rench and Indian War, and War of 
the Revolution. 

James Edwards, 2d, May i8th, 1794, married Sophia 
Ridgway, daughter of Job Ridgway, who was the son of 
Timothy Ridgway, senior, son of Richard Ridgway, 2d, 
son of Richard Ridgway, ist, who, with his wife Elizabeth 
and son Thomas, came to this country in the ship " Jacob 
and Mary," in 1679. Richard Ridgway, 2d, was born in 
Pennsylvania, June 27th, 1680. August 9, 1702, at Jeru- 
salem, Long Island, he married Mary Willits, daughter of 
Hope and Mary Willits. 

_ Timothy Ridgway, in 1728, married Sarah Cranmer, 
daughter of William and Mary Cranmer. 

Job Ridgway, in 1769, married Elizabeth Mathis, 
(formerly written Mathews), daughter of Jeremiah Mathis, 
who was a son of " Great John Mathis." 

Jeremiah Mathis, in 1747, married Hannah Andrews, 
daughter of Samuel Andrews, who, in 1726, married Eliza- 
beth Ridgway, daughter of Thomas Ridgway, who was 
born in England and was son of Richard and Elizabeth 
Ridgway, who came to America in 1679. 

Thomas Ridgway married Ann Pharo, wdio was born 
in England and was daughter of James and Ann Pharo, 
who came to America in the ship "Shield," 1678. 

James Edwards, son of James and Elizabeth (Heady) 
Edwards, was born July 15th, 1770; died December 21, 



THE EDWARDS FAMILY 7 

1817. He was married May 18, 1794, to Sophia Ridgway 
who was born February 19, 1769; died August 31, 1844. 
Their children : Clayton, Gideon, Jesse, Job, (born Feb- 
ruary 17, 1800; died January i, 1801,) Job, (born Novem- 
ber 8, 1802 ; died December 25th, 1871,) James and Noah. 
For children and grand-children of James Edwards, ist, 
see account by Leah Blackman. 

Job, son of James and Sophia Edwards, married for 
his first wife, April 23d, 1825, Nancy Slaight, born March 
13th, 1807 ; died July 29th, 1836, daughter of Henry and 
Catherine [Butler] Slaight of Staten Island. 

Their children : Elizabeth, born July 9, 1826, died 
January i, i860; James Henry, born October 13, 1828, 
died January 9, 1830 ; Harriet Ann, born October 25, 1830, 
died April 6, 1832 ; Mary Catherine, born June 18, 1832 ; 
David Schuyler Haywood, born February 17, 1834, died 
October 14, 1855. 

Elizabeth married Capt. Thomas Woodmancy. Their 
children : Amos and Thomas Jefferson. 

Mary Catherine married Barclay Rogers. One daugh- 
ter, Annie. 

Job Edwards married for his second wife, April ist, 
1837, Susannah Haywood, born March 25, 1808; died 
October 13, 1895, daughter of Thomas W. Haywood, son 
of Thomas Haywood. Thomas W. Haywood married 
Anna Jeffrey, daughter of Thomas and Lydia Jeffrey, 
Thomas Haywood married Deliverance Willits. 

Job and Susannah Edwards had five children : James 
Thomas, born January 6, 1838 ; Job, born August 6, 1839, 
died April 4, 1841 ; Job, born October 5, 1841 ; Susannah, 
born March 6, 1845 '■> Nancy Ann, born November 7, 1848, 
died August 18, 1849. 

James Thomas Edwards married, July 10, 1862, 
Emma Atwood Baker, daughter of Rev. Charles and Han- 
nah Dearborn Baker, of Somerville, Mass. Emma A. 



8 THE EDWARDS FAMILY 

Baker is descended, on her father's side, from the Bakers 
and Burtons of Rhode Island, and on her mother's side 
from the Dearborns of New Hampshire and the Wards of 
Massachusetts. 

Their children : Grace Ella, born in Cambridge, 
Mass., March 8, 1864; Laura Alice, born in East Green- 
wich, R. I., October 31, 1868; Florence Emily, born in 
Randolph, N. Y., February 5, 1876. 

Grace E. married Samuel Winsor Baker, son of Rich- 
ard H. and Mary Winsor Baker of Jamestown, N. Y., June 
18, 1890. Their children : Richard Edwards, born Sep- 
tember 7, 1892 ; Dorothea, born February 4, 1896. 

Florence Emily married Charles Hamlin Sumwalt, 
son of Rev. Charles Lewis K. Sumwalt, [Colonel in the 
Union army,] and Emily Jane [Horner] Sumwalt, on 
October 18, 1898. One daughter, Margaret, born April 
21, 1901. 

Job Edwards, 2d, served in the Union Navy during 
the Civil war. He married, August i, 1867, Clara A. 
Sharpe, daughter of Thomas and S)bil Card Sharpe. 
Their children: Lizzie Vaughn, born April 29, 1874; 
and Job Langford, born March 17, 1884. 

Susannah married, January i, 1868, Capt. John Arnold 
Mills, son of James and Mary Ann [Arnold] Mills. One 
son, Edwards, born November 10, 1872, who married May 
15, 1900, Emma Rae Hall of Mannahawkin. 

James Edwards, 3d, son of James and Sophia Edwards, 
spent his life as a merchant at Barnegat and Waretown, 
serving many years as postmaster in the latter place. He 
married Serena Cranmer of Mannahawkin. Their chil- 
dren : Henry, Hannah Jane and Rufus. 

Noah Edwards, son of James and Sophia Edwards, 
was a well-known minister of the New Jersey conference 
of the Methodist Episcopal church. Noah Edwards mar- 



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REV. JOB EDWARDS. 



THE EDWARDS FAMILY 9 

ried for his first wife, Hannah Downs. Their children : 
James Watson and Charles Emory. 

His second wife was Phoebe Ann Hartshorn. Their 
children : Hannah, Mary, Sophia, Emma, Ella, Willits. 

The children of Thomas W. and Anna [Jeffrey] Hay- 
wood were Joel, Eliza, Sarah, Susannah and Mary Ann. 

Joel Haywood, son of Thomas W., born December 9, 
1798, died May 29, 1865 ; married for his first wife, Lydia, 
daughter of Amos Pharo and Letitia, his wife, nee Rose, 
whose mother was a daughter of the Burlington Budds. 
Their children : Lucy Ann, William P., Louisa Maria, 
Mary Catherine and Sarah Augusta. 

Lucy Ann married Ephraim C. Sooy, son of Nicholas 
Sooy of Burlington county. Their children : Lydia Hay- 
wood and Ephraim C, Jr. 

William P. married Jane Ann Kelley, (a cousin of 
Alfonzo A. Willits, D. D., the distinguished preacher and 
lecturer), daughter of James Kelley of Burlington county. 
Their children : Alphonso Willits, Rebecca Helen, Lucy 
Ann, Florence, James Edwin, Joel C. and Anna Augusta. 

Louisa Maria married Rev. M. C. Stokes of the New 
Jersey M. E. Conference. Their children : Wilhelmina, 
Mary Louisa and Mortie Louisa. 

Mary Catherine married Capt. Joseph Ellsworth, son 
of William Ellsworth of Monmouth county. Their chil- 
dren : Celetta, Alida, Joseph, Jr., Mary, William E., 
Frank H., Henry Clay and George C. 

Sarah Augusta married Benjamin D. Cramer, son of 
Asa Cramer (Friend) of Burlington county. One child, 
Florence Haywood. 

Joel Haywood married for his second wife, Mary Ann 
Phart). Their children : Lydia, Ann Eliza, Susanna 
Edwards and Lucy Cordelia. 

Lydia married James Spragiie. Their children : Mary 



lO THE EDWARDS FAMILY 

Alvaretta, Joel Haywood, Jeremiah, Lydia Haywood, Eva 
and James. 

Ann Eliza married Amos Lippencott. Their chil- 
dren : Amos, Jr., and Nellie. 

Susanna Edwards married first William W. Ellsworth. 
Her second husband is Charles Edwin Talhurst. 

Eucy Cordelia married Jesse Mullerey. Their chil- 
dren : Jessie C, William V., Vernon Haywood and Charles 
Edwin. 

Eliza Haywood, daughter of Thomas W., married 
Charles Pharo. Their children : Joel, Timothy, Jane 
and Joseph. 

Joel married Eunice Fithian of Philadelphia. Their 
children : Isaac, Joseph, Amos and James. 

Timothy married Sarah Potter of Tom's River. 

Jane married Henry Augustus Tolbert. Their chil- 
dren : Mary J., Henry A., Josephine, John F., Franklin P., 
Lewis C. and William. 

Joseph married Jane Collins. Their children : Job 
and Anderson. 

Sarah Haywood, daughter of Thomas W., married 
Joseph Stetser of Camden. Their children : Susan C, 
Sarah, Mary Ellen, Maria, Emma and Joseph. 

Susan married Hamilton Hammell of Camden. Their 
children : Frank, Harr>^ and Eva. 

Mary Ellen married Jesse G. Kirk. 

Maria married William Mead. 

Emma J. married James H. Dobbins. 

Susanna Haywood, daughter of Thomas W., — given 
elsewhere. 

Mary Ann Haywood, daughter of Thomas W., mar- 
ried William Sooy of Green Bank. Their children : Joel 
H., Watson T., Anna and Frank W. 



THE EDWARDS FAMILY II 

Joel H. married Margaretta Tomlinson. Their chil- 
dren : Mary Catherine, Joel Edgar and Lucy Wright. 

Watson T. married Harriet W. Lane. 

Anna married Rev. George W. Dobbins. 

Frank W. married Clara V. Mathis. Their children : 
Carroll, Franklin and Watson T. 



12 THE EDWARDS FAMILY 



THE HAYWOOD CREST. 

My great-grandfather, Thomas Haywood, was a lineal 
descendant of John Haywood, Vicar General of Litchfield, 
England, in the fifteenth century. Another ancestor of 
note was Thomas Havwood, a dramatist of the Elizabethan 
age, who had, as he informs his readers, " an entire hand, 
or at least a main finger in two hundred and twenty plays." 
Only twenty-three of these, however, have come down to us. 

Some very pretty songs survive, among them the 
following : 

SONG. 

" Pack clouds away, and welcome day. 

With night we banish sorrow ; 
Sweet air, blow soft ; mount, lark, aloft, 

To give my love good morrow. 
Wings from the wind, to please her mind, 

Notes from the lark I'll borrow, 
Bird, plume thy wing ; nightingale sing. 

To give my love good morrow, 

To give my love good morrow, 

Notes from them all I'll borrow. 

" Wake f ro:n thy nest, robin redbreast, 

Sing, birds, in every furrow ; 
And from each bill, let music thrill, 

Give my fair love good morrow. 
Blackbird and thrush, in every bush — 

Stare, linnet, and cocksparrow, — 
You pretty elves, among yourselves 

Sing my fair love good morrow. 

To give my love good morrow. 

Sing, birds, in every furrow." 

Mrs. Sarah Augusta [Haywood] Cramer, who has 
given much time to the subject, states that Hon. Edwin 
Salter informed her, in a letter, that to the legal papers of 
Thomas Haywood at Freehold, N. J., he had found affixed 
the Haywood crest. It consists of a falcon rising in flight 
perpendicularly from the stump of a tree, and bears the 



THE EDWARDS FAMILY 1 3 

device, — ^''Alte volo.^''—(l fly high.) Mrs. Cramer adds: 
" Judge of my delight when I read in the reference library 
at Toronto, Canada, that the family crest of Thomas Hay- 
wood, the dramatist, was the same as the one stated by 
Mr. Salter to belong to the heraldry of the Ocean County 
Hay woods." 



14 THE EDWARDS FAMILY 



JOEL HAYWOOD. 

Joel Haywood of West Creek was born December 9th, 
1798, and died May 29th, 1865. He was a self-made man 
who by home study and the constant exercise of a natur- 
ally acute and observing mind, became a good scholar 
and a most influential citizen. Few men in eastern 
New Jersey were better known or are more gratefully 
remembered. He was by trade a blacksmith and wheel- 
wright and possessed unusual mechanical skill in other 
lines of work. 

During a large part of his life he was a local preacher 
and probably preached as many funeral sermons as any 
other local preacher in the state. As an indication of his pop- 
ularity, the records show that he married over six hundred 
couples. His conversion was remarkable. When a young 
man, while engaged in rescuing the crew from a ship- 
wrecked vessel, he was thrown into the sea. As he was 
sinking for the third time, a companion caught and dragged 
him into the boat. While struggling in the water it 
seemed to him as if the map of his life was spread out 
before his gaze, and with amazing vividness the incidents 
of his career came back upon hiin. The impression pro- 
duced was so powerful that it changed the whole purpose 
of his life. 

In 1850 the Legislature of New Jersey created the 
county of Ocean. Mr. Haywood was one of the commis- 
sioners to set off the county from Monmouth, also serving 
as its first representative in the House, and for two terms 
thereafter. He was a very able debater and took a con- 
spicuous part in legislation. 

For several years after the formation of Ocean county, 




HON. JOEL HAYWOOD. 



THE EDWARDS FAMILY 1 5 

attempts were made, for political reasons, to set off a por- 
tion of it to Monmouth county. 

He defeated this project, once by a burst of eloquence, 
when, after a member had advocated the measure by argu- 
ing for it, as he said, " in the interests of Ocean county," — 
Mr. Haywood replied, " I think I know whose child this is, 
and I say, rather than slay it by cutting it in two, I prefer 
to surrender it all ! " 

He was a master of wit and humor, although usually 
maintaining the gravest countenance. 

He defeated the last attempt at gerrymandering the 
count}' boundaries by a joke. 

The description of the proposed line read, " Commenc- 
ing at the sea coast, thence due west and thence back to 
the place of beginning." The bill had reached its third 
reading at the last session of the Legislature, and there 
was the usual rush and confusion. 

Mr. Haywood rose and said that he had exhausted his 
arguments against the bill and he proposed to waive further 
opposition if his opponents would grant him one verbal 
amendment. He moved that they substitute east for west, 
which, it will be seen, would run the line off into the 
Atlantic Ocean. Some jolly member seconded the motion 
and in the laugh which followed the amendment prevailed. 
So far as I know the attempt to divide the county has 
never been renewed. 

In 1853 Joel Haywood ran as the candidate of the 
Whig party for Governor, his opponent being Rodman M. 
Price. He was defeated by a small majority. 

It is claimed by good judges, that he would have been 
elected if he had given some recognition to the '' Know- 
Nothings," who were just rising to influence, but he felt he 
could not fully approve the organization. 

Mr. Haywood was one of the originators of the Re- 
publican party, and was a delegate to the first National 



1 6 THE EDWARDS FAMILY 

Republican Convention which met in Philadelphia in 
1856, and nominated John C. Fremont for President, and 
William L. Dayton for Vice President. 

Hon. William A. Newell of New Jersey, sometimes 
called " Father of the Life Saving Service," always ac- 
knowledged his obligations to Mr. Haywood for valuable 
aid given to him in securing the first appropriation from 
Congress for this object. The perfect familiarity of the 
latter with the Atlantic seaboard and the tragic story of its 
shipwrecks, enabled him to give to Governor Newell wise 
and timely counsel. 

The home of Mr. Haywood was distinguished by gen- 
erous hospitality. Preachers, colporteurs, lecturers, rela- 
tives and friends always received a cordial welcome. He 
delighted in conferring pleasure. 

In the winter of my freshman year in college, 1856, 
and the winter following, I taught the school in West 
Creek and boarded at his house. The school numbered 
over sixty, with many mature scholars, some of them 
sailors, at home for the winter. Being only eighteen, I 
felt my task to be an onerous one, but, cheered by his 
unfailing counsel, I completed the work in such a manner 
as to make the remembrance of my experiences agreeable. 

In the long winter evenings, often after the family 
had retired, we held delightful conversations. He was 
eager to get views from the standpoint of the college and 
to learn of the professors and their classic lore, while I was 
anxious to acquire wisdom from his broad acquaintance 
with men and intimate association with public affairs. 

We occasionally added to our intellectual repast some- 
thing for the enjoyment of our physical being by " crack- 
ing " a few fat. Egg Harbor oysters. 

Joel Haywood was a most companionable, lovable man. 
I have never known a person who more devotedly and con- 



THE EDWARDS FAMILY I7 

scientiously labored for the happiness and well being of 
his fellow men. 

He was always an ardent advocate of the temperance 
cause, and all his life labored to promote the things which 
make for righteousness. 



l8 THE EDWARDS FAMILY 



OLD TIMES IN OCEAN COUNTY. 

Written for the N. J. Courier by Hon. Edwin Salter. 

1871. 



THE EDWARDS FAMILY. 

" The Edwards family in the southern part of Ocean 
county, with branches elsewhere, are descended from James 
Edwards, who was with Braddock at the time of his disas- 
trous defeat in the old French war. After that war he 
first settled in Pennsylvania, and thence removed to Little 
Egg Harbor, thence to Barnegat. There he frequently 
described to his neighbors the particulars of Braddock's 
defeat, and he always positively asserted that Braddock 
was killed by one of his own men who thought he was 
uselessly sacrificing the lives of his soldiers. His state- 
ments have subsequently been fully corroborated, and the 
following particulars are derived from Virginia and Penn- 
sylvania local histories : 

" ' General Braddock was shot by one of his own men 
named Tom Fawcett, who lived to quite an advanced age 
near Uniontown, Fayette county. Pa. In the presence of 
friends, Fawcett did not hesitate to avow that he shot Gen- 
eral Braddock. P'awcett was a man of gigantic frame, of 
uncivilized, half savage propensities, and spent most of his 
later years among the mountains as a hermit, living on 
the game he killed. He would occasionally come into 
town and get drunk. Sometimes he would repel inquiries 



THE EDWARDS FAMILY I9 

into the affair of Braddock's death, putting his fingers to 
his lips and uttering a buzzing sound ; at other times he 
would burst into tears and appear greatly agitated by con- 
flicting emotions. In spite of Braddock's silly order that 
his troops should not protect themselves behind trees from 
the murderous fire of the Indians, Joseph Fawcett, brother 
of Tom, had taken such a position, when Braddock rode 
up in a passion and struck him down with his sword. 
Tom, who was a short distance from his brother, saw the 
whole transaction and immediately drew up his rifle and 
shot him through the lungs, partly out of revenge for the 
outrage upon his brother, and partly, as he alleged, to get 
the General out of the way and thus save the remainder of 
the gallant band who had been sacrificed to his obstinacy 
and want of experience in frontier warfare.' 

"• Mrs. Leah Blackman, in her Egg Harbor Sketches, 
states that James Edwards was wounded in the battle and 
received a musket ball in the leg which he carried to the 
grave ; and she adds, ' he lived to an advanced age and was 
buried in the Methodist church yard at Tuckerton. He 
was a soldier in the revolution and fought under Wash- 
ington, whom he loved with undying affection.' 

" James Edwards was one of the first, probably the 
first, adherent to Methodism in Barnegat and vicinity, and 
continued till his death a strict, faithful member of the 
society. His two sons, James and Thomas, do not see m to 
have united with any religious body, but both encouraged 
religious efforts by clergymen of different denominations. 
James especially, entertained ministers of all denomina- 
tions. Among his frequent visitors was Rev. Mr. Jayne, a 
Baptist preacher, father of Dr. Jayne, noted for his popular 
medicines. 

" James Edwards the first, married Elizabeth Heady. 
Their children were Zophar, Thomas, James, George, 
Deborah, Elizabeth, Amy, Prudence and Keturah. Zophar 



20 THE EDWARDS FAMILY 

and George followed the sea. George died at home, un- 
married, Zophar continued in the same employment, but 
it is not known where or when he died, Thomas Edwards 
married Phebe Comstock of Elizabethtown, N. J. Their 
children were George, Samuel, Thomas, Richard, Mary 
and Ann Eliza. The last two never married. George 
married Hannah Mills, Samuel married Thirza Hedden, 
Richard married Jemima Hedden and Thomas a ]\Iiss 
Clayton of Freehold. Captains Nelson and Mills Edwards 
and Mary A. Predmore, wife of Capt. John Predmore, and 
Phebe Inman, wife of Capt. John Inman are children of 
George and Hannah Edwards. 

" Samuel and Thirza Edwards had three children, 
Thomas, Samuel and Phebe Ann. . Phebe Ann married 
Jonathan Lawrence, Capt, Thomas Edwards made as 
noble a record during the late Rebellion as any one. James 
Edwards, 2d, married Sophia Ridgway of Barnegat. They 
had six sons who grew to manhood : Clayton, Gideon, 
Jesse, Job, James and Noah, The first three never mar- 
ried. Job married, first, Nancy Slaight ; second, Susannah 
Haywood. James, 3d, married Serena Cranmer, daughter 
of Isaiah Cranmer of Mannahawken, Noah, the well known 
Methodist minister, married, first, Hannah Downs of Tuck- 
erton ; second, Phebe Ann Hartshorn. 

" Of the children of James Edwards, 2d, the only sur- 
vivors now are James Edwards, 3d, merchant in Waretown ; 
Job Edwards, who may be considered the founder of the 
present Methodist church in Barnegat, and served two 
terms in the Legislature, and Rev, Noah Edwards. 

" Deborah Edwards, daughter of the first James, mar- 
ried Thomas Collins of Barnegat. Elizabeth married Bar- 
zillai Mathis of Egg Harbor. Amy married Stephen 
Shourds of Tuckerton. Prudence married Phineas Burton 
of Egg Harbor. Keturah married Richard McClure. 
These daughters have numerous descendants. 



THE EDWARDS FAMILY 21 

" The religious principles of the society of which the 
first James Edwards was the earliest adherent in this sec- 
tion, have an able representative in a descendant in the 
fourth generation, Rev. James T. Edwards, D. D., present 
principal of Chamberlain Institute, Randolph, N. Y., a 
flourishing and well-endowed school. Prof. Edwards is a 
son of Rev. Job Edv/ards, and although comparatively 
young, his career has been singularly active and useful. 
Besides being a successful educator, he served honorably 
as an officer in the army during the late war, was a leading 
member of the Rhode Island Senate, and as an able and 
eloquent minister of the Gospel he was awarded the degree 
of D. D. at an unusually early age." 

Deborah Edwards, daughter of the first James Ed- 
wards, married Thomas Collins of Barnegat. Their chil- 
dren, besides one daughter who died in childhood, were 
George, Asa, Jesse, Nancy, Phebe and Benjamin. 

Nancy married Daniel Johnson. They had five 
children : George, Allen, Phebe, Betsy and James. 

Phebe Collins, daughter of Deborah and Thomas, 
married John Birdsall. They had six children, namely, 
Betsey, George, Deborah, Jane, Phebe Ann and John. 

Benjamin Collins, son of Deborah and Thomas, mar- 
ried Maria Mills. They had six children : Mary, Char- 
lotte, Caroline, Jane, James and Ralph. 

Mary married Riley Conklin. They had one daughter. 

Charlotte married George Cranmer. They had one 
son, Senator George T. Cranmer of Trenton. 

Caroline married Capt. Joseph Anderson. One son, 
Joel Haywood. 

Jane married Joseph Pharo. Two sons, Job and 
Anderson. 

James married Harriet Conklin. One son, Frank W. 



22 THE EDWARDS FAMILY 

Ralph married Amelia Russell. They had one son, 
Ralph. 

For other descendants of the children of James Ed- 
wards, ist, see account by Leah Blackman. 



Note — General Braddock struck down Joseph Fawcett, but did not kill him. 
He lived to a great age and has a great-granddaughter now living in Fayette county, 
Penn. Tom Fawcett died in 1822 at the age of one hundred and nine years. His 
grave is pointed out on the farm of Paton Rush, two miles from Ohiopyle. 




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THE EDWARDS FAMILY 23 



SKETCH TAKEN FROM "WHO'S WHO IN 

AMERICA." 

EDWARDS, James Thomas, educator ; b. Barnegat, 
N. J., Jan. 6, 1838 : s. Rev. Job and Susannah (Haywood) 
E.; grad. Wesleyan Univ., i860, (A. M. Wesleyan, D. D., 
LL. D. Allegheny Coll.); m. July 10, 1862, Emma A. Baker, 
Somerville, Mass.; Lieut, and Adj. in Union Army, 1862-3 5 
principal E. Greenwich Sem., R. I,, 1864-70 ; principal 
Chamberlain Institute, N. Y., 1870-92 ; field sec. Chautau- 
qua System of Education, 1892-3 ; principal McDonogh 
School near Baltimore, Md., 1893-8; Senator R. I. Legis- 
lature, 1865-9; N- Y. Legislature, 1892-3; chm'n com, 
on education in both bodies ; author University bill and 
Library and Traveling Library bills ; dir. dept. physics 
and chemistry Chautauqua University, (summer schools), 
1883-93 ; V. p. Chautauqua board of trustees ; member 
Congress of Religions, 1893 ; delegate Gen. Conf. M. E. 
Ch. 1884, 1892 ; mem. Am. Acad, of Science ; pres. West- 
ern New York Agr'l Soc; was delegate from R. I. to 
Southern Loyalists' Conv., Phila., 1866 ; presidential 
elector from R. I., 1868 ; delegate to centennial of Meth- 
odism, 1884. Author: The Grass Family, 1872; The 
Silva of Chautauqua Lake, 1892 ; Addresses — Educational, 
Political, Scientific, Religious, 1896; Pen and Picture, 
1896 ; Rhymes from a Reclining Chair, 1902 ; contributor 
to various publications. Address : Randolph, N. Y. 



24 THF, EDWARDS FAMILY 



THE EDWARDS FAMILY. 
By Leah Blackmail. 

" The Edwards family does not properly belong to Egg 
Harbor, yet several members of the family married and 
resided in Little Egg Harbor, therefore I think I have a 
right to say a little abont them. 

"James Edwards, sr., was a soldier in General Brad- 
dock's army and was wounded in battle, receiving a musket 
shot in his leg, which ball he carried to his grave. He 
lived to an advanced age, and was buried in the Methodist 
church yard at Tuckerton. He was also a soldier in the 
Revolutionary War and fought under Washington, and 
like many others of Washington's veterans, he loved 
Washington with an undying love. One of his grand- 
daughters told me that when the angel death was hover- 
ing over him, one of his daughters, who stood at his 
bedside, asked him if he knew he was dying, and he re- 
plied, ''O, yes; I shall soon be with Jesus, where I shall 
meet with my dear old General Washington.' 

" His daughter asked him if he believed that warriors 
like General Washington inherited the Kingdom of 
Heaven, and he answered, ' Yes ; I believe that Washing- 
ton is a bright star in the regions of glory.' Soon after 
this, his spirit took flight to the spirit world. 

" James Edwards was a strict Methodist, and many of 
his descendants have been members of the Methodist 
church. The Edwards family is noted for possessing great 
conversational powers, and for their intelligence and wit. 

" James Edwards came from Pennsylvania and settled 
at Barnegat, where he married Elizabeth Heady, or, as I 



THE EDWARDS FAMILY 25 

believe some call it, Huddy, Their children were Zophar, 
Thomas, James, George, Deborah, Elizabeth, Amy, Pru- 
dence and Keturah. 

" I have not been able to learn who Zophar and 
George Edwards married. 

" If I have been rightly informed, Thomas Edwards 
married Phebe Comstock of Elizabethtown, N. J. 

" James Edwards, jr., married Sophia Ridgway of 
Barnegat. 

"Deborah Edwards married Thomas Collins of Barnegat. 

" Elizabeth Edwards married Barzilliai Mathis of Egg 
Harbor. Their children : George, Manta, James, Emma, 
Susan and Phebe. 

" Amy Edwards married Stephen Shourds of Tucker- 
ton. Their children : Mary, Samuel, James, Elizabeth, 
Sarah, Catharine, Ellen, William and Lucy Ann. 

" Prudence Edwards married Phineas Burton of Egg 
Harbor. Their children : Elizabeth, Sarah, Mary, James, 
Peter, George, Catherine, Prudence, Phineas and Ann. 

" Keturah Edwards married Richard McClure. Their 
children were Harriet, James, Elizabeth, John and George." 

The Ridgway Family. 

Among our ancestors are three who came to this 
country during the last third of the seventeenth century. 
They are Richard Ridgway, ist, John Mathis, Sr., James 
Pharo, ist. The following extracts concerning them are 
taken from Mrs. Blackman's " History of Families of 
East New Jersey." 

" Since my publication of the Ridgway family in the 
New Jersey Mirror, I have received several letters which 
gave me new and important information concerning this 
family which I am about to add to this sketch of the Ridg- 
ways, and I find there are some traditional errors in my 
first publication which I shall correct in this account. 



26 THE EDWARDS FAMILY 

" The first Ridgway who came to America was Rich- 
ard Ridgway, with Elizabeth, his wife, and Thomas, their 
son, who arrived in the Delaware river, in the ship Jacob 
and Mar}^, of London. The Ridg^'ays came from Walling- 
ford, Bucks, England. They arrived in America the 7th 
month, 1679. At the period of their arrival, their son, 
Thomas, was two years and two months old, having been 
born the 25th day of the 5th month, 1677. 

" He, Richard, settled in Bucks county. Pa., near 
Penn's Manor, where, it is said, he purchased 218 acres of 
land on which he resided until about the year 1690, when 
he removed to West Jersey, and after living at various 
places, settled at Springfield, N. J., where he died soon 
after, the 27th day of the 9th month, 1722, on which day 
he made his will. It is affirmed that Richard Ridgsvay, 
Sr., was a descendant of the nobility of England, and further, 
that he was a near kinsman of the Earl of Chatham. 

" Many of the individuals of the various generations 
of the Ridgway family have been the possessors of an 
abundance of the riches of this world, and to so great an 
extent has this been the case that the name of Ridgway 
seems to carry with it a tinkle of the 'Almighty Dollar.' 

" Richard Ridgway, Sr.'s children by his first wife, 
Elizabeth, were Thomas, born in England ; Richard, born 
in Pennsylvania, 6th month, 27th, 1680. Elizabeth, born 
in Pennsylvania, 17th of 2d month, 1682; and Josiah, 
whose age is not given. His children by his last wife, 

Abigail, w^ere Job ; Mary, who married Belangee ; 

Jane, who married Isaac Antrim ; Sarah and Joseph. I 
think there must have been a daughter by the name of 
Abigail by this last wife, for it is recorded in the books of 
the Burlington Monthly Meeting, that in the year 171 7 
Henry Clothier married Abigail Ridgway. It appears that 
she was not the daughter of Thomas nor Richard, Jr., and 
the other sons of Richard Ridgway, Sr., were too young 



THE EDWARDS FAMILY 27 

to have had marriageable daughters at that date, and she 
could not have been Richard's widow, for he did not die 
until seven years after this marriage. 

" Elizabeth, daughter of Richard Ridgway, Sr., by 
his first wife, married Joseph Willits of Little Egg 
Harbor. Richard Ridgway, Jr., when 22 years of age, was 
married, 9th of 8th month, 1702, at Jerusalem, Queens 
County, Long Island, to Mary, the daughter of Hope and 
Mary Willits of that place. Richard Ridgway, Jr.'s chil- 
dren were William, Timothy, Elizabeth, Richard, Mary 
and James. 

"In the year 1729, Timothy Ridgway married Sarah 
Cranmer and settled at Barnegat, and it is said that he had 
a son Job and a son Richard, and there might have been 
other children, and some of his posterity are still living in 
Ocean County. 

" Thomas Ridgway's descendants claim the above said 
Timothy Ridgway to have been the son of Thomas Ridg- 
way, Sr., and in accordance with their statements I have 
made the same statement in my former writings ; but now 
I believe they were mistaken, 

" Richard Ridgway, Jr., lived but a short time after 
marriage, and I suppose, on his Springfield farm, near 
Jobstown, as his will, dated 17 18, only sixteen years after 
his marriage, and his death shortly after, proves. He left 
his father, Richard Ridgway of Springfield, his brother 
Thomas of Little Egg Harbor, and his brother-in-law, 
Joseph Willits of Little Egg Harbor, his executors, which 
said executors made a title for 250 acres in Springfield 
township to W^illiam Fox, dated May 30th, 171 9, 
which property since that time has been called the Fox 
farm, 154 acres of which Richard Ridgway, Jr., purchased 
of Jarvis Pharo, March 24th, 1706, 455^ acres of William 
Vinecomb, January 15th, 17 15, and the balance of John 
Antrim, November 15th, 17 16. Thomas Ridgway, Sr., 



28 THE EDWARDS FAMILY 

married Jarvis Pharo's sister, Ann. Jarvis Pharo married 
Elizabeth, daughter of Hope Willits, and Richard Ridg- 
way, Jr., married Mary, daughter of Hope Willits, and 
Joseph Willits married Thomas and Richard Ridgway's 
sister Elizabeth, thus making a complete snarl of broth- 
ers-in-law. 

" Richard Ridgway, Sr., was one of the judges 
of the Burlington courts, a position of much im- 
portance in that early day. This appointment was made 
in 1 701 and continued almost iminterrupted until April, 
1720, a period of about nineteen years. In the year 171 7, 
Josiah Ridgway, (son of Richard, ist,) was appointed con- 
stable of Springfield township. 

"Mary, daughter of Richard Ridgway, Sr., married 

Belangee. He must have been Evi Belangee, who 

settled in Little Egg Harbor, and was the forefather of all 
the Belangees of whom I ever heard. Evi Belangee was a 
French Huguenot and three of his granddaughters married 
Ridgways, who must have been their near kinsmen. 

" The descendants of the Ridgways of upper Burling- 
ton county must be very numerous, but I have very little 
knowledge of their genealogy. 

"As before stated, Thomas Ridgway, was the eldest 
child of Richard Ridgway, Sr., and was born in England 
the 25th day of the 5th month, 1677, and was two years 
and two months old when he, with his parents, arrived in 
America. Thomas Ridgway married Ann, daughter of 
James Pharo, who came to America in the ship Shield. 
Ann Pharo, like her husband, was born in England, and 
was about one year old when she came to America. She 
was born the 21st day of February, 1678. Ann Pharo was 
the mother of all of Thomas Ridgway's eleven children. 
A certain author states that Ann was the mother of John, 
Thomas and Catherine, and that the second wife, Eliza- 
beth Andrews, was the mother of the other eight children. 



THE EDWARDS FAMILY 29 

but with the descendants of Thomas Ridgway it is a tra- 
dition that Ann was the mother of all of the children, and 
that Elizabeth had no children, and the following record 
is proof that the children were Ann's. 

"Timothy Pharo, Sr., who married the granddaughter 
of Thomas Ridgway, Sr., made the following record in his 
family Bible : 

" ' Ann Pharo, daughter of the said James Pharo and 
Ann, his wife, was born the 21st day of the 12th month, 
called February, [old style] , 1677-8, the mother of Thomas, 
John and Robert Ridgway, and Catherine Garner and Ann 
Gauntt, the public preacher, all born in Little Egg 
Harbor.' 

"This record gives the names of Thomas Ridgway's 
oldest and youngest children, and if Ann, the first wife, 
was the mother of the first and the last children, she must 
have been the mother of those which intervened. 

" Thomas Ridgway's children were Thomas, John, 
Catherine, Job, Jacob, Edward, Richard, Elizabeth, Ann, 
Robert and. Major Woodward says, Joseph, and it might 
have been so. 

" The youngest son of John Ridgway, Sr., was Jacob 
Ridgway, distinguished in his time as the second wealthi- 
est man in the city of Philadelphia and also as the contem- 
porary of Stephen Girard, who was the first on the list of 
the wealthy men of that city. Jacob Ridgway was born 
on the i8th day of April, 1768. Mr. Ridgway died in 
May, 1843, ^^ th^ 76th year of his age, leaving an estate 
estimated to be worth $3,500,000, to his three children, 
John Ridgway, Mrs. Phebe Rush and Mrs. Dr. Barton. 
Mrs. Rush, the descendant of the Egg Harbor Quaker, be- 
came a leader of fashion in Philadelphia society. John 
Ridgway removed to Paris, where, as ' an American mil- 
lionaire,' he has vied in magnificence with Colonel Thorne 
and other such citizens of the United States, who ape the 



30 THE EDWARDS FAMILY 

munificence of the European aristocracy. Mrs. Barton re- 
mains among us in Philadelphia, in the quiet seclusion of 
domestic life, without ostentation or any desire to promote 
display. 

" Mrs. Phebe Ann Rush, wife of Doctor Rush, and 
daughter of Jacob Ridgway, and the renowned leader of 
fashion several years ago, died at Saratoga Springs where 
she had gone for the benefit of her health. On her moth- 
er's side she was of French descent, being a great-grand- 
daughter of Evi Belangee, a Frenchman, who was an early 
settler in Little Egg Harbor. Mrs. Rush had the reputa- 
tion of being possessed of unusual conversational powers, 
and that when at the gay and fashionable assemblies in 
which she delighted, and when she conversed, she ahvays 
attracted a crowd of admiring and entranced listeners. 
But when disease fastened upon her and death was immi- 
nent, she renounced the vanities of the world and requested, 
when she died, to be buried according to the forms and 
customs of the Quaker denomination. She had no children 
to heir her large estate, therefore she bequeathed it to 
Dr. Rush." 

Dr. James Rush, author of the profound treatise, 
" Philosophy of the Human Voice," and other valuable 
works, died May 26th, 1869. He left $1,000,000 to the 
Philadelphia Library Company for the erection of a Ridg- 
way branch of the Philadelphia Library. 



The Mathis Family. 

"John Mathis was bom about the year 1690, and 
when a young man, he and his brother Charles emigrated 
to America. Their first residence in the new world was at 
Oyster Bay, on Long Island. Charles Mathis's family set- 
tled at Shrewsbury, Monmouth County, N. J. 



THE EDWARDS FAMILY 3 1 

" At an early day there were Matthews who settled at 
Cape May, and there is a Thomas Matthews mentioned 
among the early settlers in upper Burlington County. In 
the early settlements of Virginia there was a INIatthews 
sent from England to Virginia to be the Governor of that 
province. No doubt they were relatives of John and 
Charles Mathis. 

"In the year 1713, John Mathis was living on Long 
Island, and in that year he and William Birdsall and 
Moses Forman purchased Daniel Mathis' Island, (then 
Biddle's Island), of Daniel Leeds of Springfield, N. J. In 
the year 17 14, John Mathis was residing in Egg Harbor, 
and in September of the same year, William Birdsall sold 
his share of the island to John Mathis, and shortly after, 
Moses Forman sold Mathis his portion of the property. 
The survey contained in all 250 acres. It is probable that 
Moses Forman finally settled in Ocean County, and was 
the forefather of the Formans in that section. From a 
certain record, he once owned a farm in Egg Harbor. 

" Daniel Mathis' Island (on Bass river) was John 
Mathis' first purchase of land in Egg Harbor, and this was 
the commencement of his career as a land speculator, which 
steadily increased until he was the greatest landholder of 
the township. At the time of Mathis' purchase of the 
island, it was in its primeval state, but he settled on it and 
soon had it cleared and formed into a valuable farm. 

" This island received its original name from William ' 
Biddle, one of the great land proprietors. From the time 
of John ]\Iathis purchasing the island to the present date, 
(1879), it has been owned in the Mathis name. 

" Mathis is not the original, and therefore not the 
proper method of spelling the name. The ancient form of 
spelling and writing the name was 'Mathews.' It is said 
John Mathis considered it a difficult name to pronounce 
and write, and for this cause he omitted the 'e' and the 'w' 



32 THE EDWARDS FAMILY 

and substituted 'i' for 'e', and thus it became modernized 
into Mathis, and long custom has made Mathis the perma- 
nent way of writing and pronouncing the name among 
most of the descendants of John Mathis. In ahnost all of 
the deeds of John Mathis' lands, his name is written Math- 
ews. The learned in such matters, say that the Norman 
signification of the term Mathews is, ' as stubborn as a 
mule.' This is, indeed, an appropriate appellation, for it 
is useless waste of time and patience, to attempt to turn a 
true, full-blooded Mathis or Mathews from what he con- 
siders the right course. A Mathis can be led by truth and 
pleasant words and just and honorable acts, but treat him 
to the essence of meanness and he cannot be driven any 
farther than can the most stubborn mule that ever came 
under the lash. Doubtless the Norman invaders of Eng- 
land found John Mathis' ancestors as true as steel and as 
stubborn as mules to the interest of their native England, 
and hence this designation for their stubbornness. 

" The Mathis family is remarkable for longevity, for 
their excellent memories, for their preciseness in busi- 
ness affairs, and their exalted sense of justice ; and further, 
for their aptness in learning, for keeping their own counsel 
and even the secrets of others, for attending to their own 
instead of other people's business. These are the traits of 
character of the thorough dispositioned ]\Iathis, yet there 
are many who possess the name who have but a small por- 
tion of the nature and principles belonging to the gen- 
uine race. 

" In John Mathis' time it was customary to affix the 
title of ' Great ' to the names of distinguished men, there- 
fore John Mathis was called ' Great John Mathis,' and peo- 
ple directed letters to 'Great John Mathis.' In his time 
he was the wealthiest and most distinguished man of the 
township of Little Egg Harbor. 

" In the year 1716, John Mathis married Alice Higbee, 



THE EDWARDS FAMILY 33 

widow of John Higbee, and eldest daughter of Edward 
Andrews the founder of Tuckerton. Mathis' wife brought 
him a \'ahiable personal property. She had the reputation 
of being a ' strong-minded woman,' who was possessed of 
unusual business talents, ordering and arranging her 
affairs with the utmost regularity and good judgment, and 
it is also affirmed that she was a greater speculator than 
her husband, and it was in a measure owing to her influ- 
ence and speculative passion that he became such an exten- 
sive land holder. Taking into consideration the age in 
which she lived, and also the meagre opportunities for ac- 
quiring knowledge, she had a fair education. She wrote 
a better hand than did her husband. She is described as 
a large, tall and muscular woman of a dark complexion, 
with black eyes and black hair, which she inherited from 
her father, Edward Andrews. 

"John Mathis had six sons and one daughter, viz.: 
Micajah Mathis, born the 9th day of the 9th month, 1717 ; 
Job Mathis, born the 13th day of the 5th month, 17 19; 
Sarah Mathis, born the 19th day of the 7th month, 1721 ; 
Daniel Mathis, born the 7th day of the 9th month, 1723; 
Jeremiah Mathis, born the 14th day of the 3d month, 
1726; Nehemiah Mathis, born the 13th day of the 6th 
month, 1728; Eli Mathis, born the 4th day of the 6th 
month, 1730. 

" After John Mathis had got his island farm into suc- 
cessful operation, he purchased 813 acres of John Budd, 
and on his tract cleared a farm now known as the Francis, 
or, more properly, the Thomas E. French farm, on the 
east side of Bass River. His next location and also for- 
mation of a farm was what is usually denominated the 
Enoch Mathis or Smith Mathis farm, which is situated on 
the west side of Bass River, opposite his farm on the east 
side of the river, and his next establishment of a farm 
was the land which now constitutes the Arthur Cranmer 



34 THE EDWARDS FAMILY 

farm, and also the Daniel Sooy farm. In John Mathis' 
time these two farms were comprised in one farm, John 
Mathis was a slave holder and employed most of his 
negroes in clearing land and farming. 

" It will be seen that at this time John Mathis had 
fonr farms, two on each side of Bass River, and the tradi- 
tion among some of his descendants is that all four of these 
farms were carried on under his superintendence, he going 
from farm to farm and directing the working thereof. This 
state of things continued until some of his sons married, 
when he deeded each one of them a farm, and set them to 
w^ork for themselves. 

" John Mathis was not only a farmer and land specu- 
lator, but he was a money lender as I can testify, for I have 
some of the original documents in my hands, showing that 
persons in Philadelphia loaned money of him and gave him 
mortgages on houses and lots in that city, and likewise 
people of Egg Harbor, Springfield, Northampton, South- 
ampton, Monmouth County and various other places, hired 
money of him and gave him bonds or mortgages for the 
same. 

" During the Revolutionary War he loaned the Gov- 
ernment a considerable sum of money, but when pay-day 
came, the Government had nothing to pay with except 
Continental paper, which was next to no pay. The lender 
was compelled to take large packages of the worthless 
scrip, which was preserved in the Mathis family for gene- 
rations : but at this time it is nearly all destroyed. The 
war proved a ruinous thing to John Mathis' money affairs, 
but did not interfere with his extensive real estate. 

"John Mathis appears to have been intimately associ- 
ated with a great number of the noted men of New Jersey, 
and his kindred of Egg Harbor were the most eminent 
characters of the place. Edward Andrews was his father- 
in-law, Peter and Jacob Andrews, the noted ministers, were 



THE EDWARDS FAMILY 35 

his brothers-in-law ; Thomas Ridgway was his brother-in- 
law, also. Robert, Allen and Samuel Andrews, and his 
children, all married into the first families of the time and 
places where they lived. 

" John Mathis was nearly connected with several of 
the Quaker preachers of his time. Among these was Ed- 
ward Andrews, his father-in-law, Peter and Jacob Andrews, 
his brothers-in-law, John Leeds, his son-in-law. Vincent 
Leeds, (son of John Leeds), his grandson, and some of his 
nephews and nieces were Quaker ministers. 

" Many of the Mathis family have been members of 
the Quaker church. Many of the old stock of the Mathis 
family married without the consent of the Friends' meet- 
ing and thereby lost their membership, and this seems to 
have been the principal cause of the decrease of Quakerism 
in the Mathis family. The Mathises have a dislike of mar- 
rying among their near kindred, and therefore many of 
them married among strangers in distant localities, not 
being able, (especially in old times), to marry in Egg 
Harbor without espousing their near relatives. The name 
Mathis is fast dying out, yet there are hundreds of people 
of the Mathis blood in Egg Harbor. The greater part of 
John Mathis' lands are now in possession of his descend- 
ants, but in a great measure among those of other names, 
the mother's name being lost in other names. 

"Jeremiah, son of John Mathis, married his first 
cousin, Hannah, daughter of Samuel Andrews, Sr. Their 
children were Hezekiah, who was born the loth day of 
January, 1749. 

"Elizabeth Mathis, born the nth day of July, 1750. 

"Mary Mathis, born the 14th day of December, 1752. 

"John Mathis, born in the year 1755. 

"Job Mathis, born the i8th day of October, 1757. 

"Eli Mathis, born the loth day of December, 1759." 



36 THE EDWARDS FAMILY 

Elizabeth, daughter of Jeremiah Mathis, married Job 
Ridgway of Barnegat. They had two daughters, Esther 
and Sophia, 

The former married Joseph Craft. The latter married 
my grandfather, James Edwards, 2d. 



The Pharo Family. 

" The first Pharo known in New Jersey, came from 
England in the year 1678, and was among the first settlers 
in Burlington after it was decided by the purchasers of 
Byllynges trustees to establish a city at that place. ' On 
the loth day of December, 1678, the ship Shield came from 
Hull, commanded by Daniel Towns ; she came to Burling- 
ton, being the first vessel that came so far up the Delaware 
river. The next morning after she arrived, the Delaware 
river was found to be frozen over, and the passengers came 
ashore on the ice.' Among the passengers of the adven- 
turous Shield was James Pharo, wife and children. They 
came from Lincolnshire, England. Timothy Pharo, Sr., 
made a record in his Bible as follows : ' The Pharos, 
(meaning James Pharo's children), were born near the 
great Minster, in the city of Lincolnshire, Old England.' 
James Pharo's wife's name was Ann. The children were 
Jarvis Pharo, born the 31st day of May, 1675 ; Amos Pharo, 
born the 12th day of January, 1677; and Ann, born the 
2ist day of February, 1678 ; all born in England, before 
the departure of the said James Pharo to this country. The 
Pharos say that Jarvis Pharo had but one child, and that 
Amos never married, and also that the above-named child- 
ren were all of the children of the first James Pharo. But 
there must be a mistake in some one of these statements, 
or else there were other Pharos in early times in New Jer- 
sey, for in the year 1740 William Pharo prosecuted Jere- 
miah Bennet for stealing his shingles, and the suit was 



THE EDWARDS FAMILY 2>1 

brought before John Mathis, Justice of the Peace. I have 
a paper (concerning the law suit) in John Mathis' hand- 
writing. I have also seen a printed account of a transac- 
tion pertaining to the Revolutionary War, and this paper 
had William Pharo's name signed to it, and these papers 
are positive proof that there was a William Pharo living 
in Burlington County more than a hundred years ago. 

" Jarvis, the eldest son of James Pharo, Sr., married 
Elizabeth, daughter of Hope Willits of Jerusalem, Queens 
County, Long Island. 

" Jarvis Pharo appears to have settled on a farm in 
Springfield, N. J., for, on the 24th day of March, 1706, he 
sold one hundred and fifty-four acres of land to his brother- 
in-law, Richard Ridgway, and this tract constituted about 
half of the farm that Richard Ridgway, 2d, owned at the 
time of his death, in the year 1718. It is probable that 
soon after the sale of this land, Jarvis Pharo removed to 
West Creek, Monmouth County, near the line between 
Burlington and Monmouth Counties. 

" James Pharo, (who is said to have been his only 
child), was born the 28th day of May, 1702, before his 
father removed to West Creek. Jarvis Pharo settled at 
West Creek, on the farm now owned by Joseph B. Cox, 
purchasing a large tract of land which included nearly all 
of what is now called West Creek. 

" At the first Monthly Meeting established in Little 
Egg Harbor, Jarvis Pharo was appointed an elder in the 
men's meeting, and his wife, Elizabeth, an elder in the 
women's meeting. Jarvis Pharo died the 18th day of the 
nth month, 1756, aged 81 years, and his wife, Elizabeth, 
died the 15th day of the loth month, 1769, in her 88th 
year." 

Samuel Pharo of Barnegat was son of Timothy Pharo, 
senior, a son of James Pharo, 2d, son of Jarvis Pharo, who 



38 THE EDWARDS FAMILY 

was son of James Pharo, ist. Samuel married Phebe Col- 
lins in the year 1805. Their children were Orrin, Robert, 
Mary, Anne, Phebe Ann and Matilda. Robert Pharo, 
brother of Samuel, in the year 1807 married Anne Collins, 
Their children were Allen R. and Charlotte. Allen R. 
married Phebe B. Willits. Charlotte married John Tilton. 
Their children were Allen P., Lieut.-Col. Henry R. Tilton, 
M.D., [my old school fellow] and Annie. The latter married 
Capt. Samuel Birdsall, who was also one of my early play- 
mates. Timothy Pharo, a brother of Samuel, in 1812 
married Hannah, daughter of James Willits, 3d. Among 
their children were Senator Joseph W. Pharo, Archelaus 
Ridgway Pharo and Albert Pharo. 

I shall repeat, somewhat, to make clear the relation of 
my family to the ancestors who came to this country' from 
England in the seventeenth century. 

My father's mother was the daughter of Job Ridgway, 
son of Timothy, son of Richard, 2d, son of Richard Ridg- 
way, ist. My father's grandmother, before marriage, was 
Elizabeth Mathis, a daughter of Hannah [Andrews] 
Mathis and Jeremiah Mathis, son of John Mathis, senior. 
Hannah [Andrews] Mathis was the daughter of Samuel 
Andrews and Elizabeth [Ridgway] Andrews, who was the 
daughter of Thomas Ridgway, senior, and Ann Pharo, who 
was daughter of James Pharo, ist. Thus my father was a 
great-great-great grandson of Richard Ridgway, ist, a 
great-great grandson of John Mathis senior, and a great- 
great-great-great grandson of the first James Pharo. 



THE EDWARDS FAMILY 39 



JAMES EDWARDS. 
Colonial and Revolutionary Soldier. 

James Edwards and Elizabeth [Heady] Edwards had 
nine children and fifty-one grandchildren. Their remote 
descendants are now very numerous. 

Among the various members of the family are pre- 
served traditions and mementoes of the old soldier. Some 
of the Continental money that was paid to him for his 
services, is now in my possession. Among his neighbors 
he was called Captain. I have conversed with Mrs. Ke- 
turah McClure, his youngest daughter, and with others 
who knew him well. All these agree as to the main facts 
in regard to the military career of the veteran. He was 
wounded by a bullet in the battle which resulted in " Brad- 
dock's Defeat." The musket ball was never removed. He 
afterwards served in the Revolutionary War. The same 
statements are made by the historians, Hon. Edwin Salter 
and Mrs. Leah Blackman. These authorities all agree that 
he settled in Pennsylvania before the Revolution and must 
have served with the troops from that state. Fortunately, 
these facts are now placed beyond question by the docu- 
mentary evidence which is printed below. These certified 
proofs from the archives of Pennsylvania record that he 
was a Captain with the Colonial troops, and afterwards, in 
the Revolution, belonged to Colonel Thomas Proctor's 
celebrated artillery regiment. Probably he chose this 
branch of the service because of the wound in his leg, 
which unfitted him for the toilsome marching of infantry. 
It is certainly a proof of his patriotism, courage and endur- 



40 THE EDWARDS FAMILY 

ance, that with such a disability he entered any branch of 
the service. 

Proctor's regiment fought bravely at Brandywine, 
Chadd's Ford, Newtown, Germantown, Bergen Neck and 
Trenton. A part of Colonel Proctor's artillery still main- 
tains its organization as the U. S. 2d Artillery. 



Letter front the General Registrar of the Sojts of the 
Revolution^ ijoo Locust St., Philadelphia. 

Office of the Registrar, 

Philadelphia, April 27th, 1903. 
Rev. James T. Edwards : — 

Dear Sir : — Replying to your query of this date : The 
name of James Edwards, private, appears on the rolls of 
the Penna. Artillery, Continental Line, Col. Proctor. 

Truly yours, 

Jno. W. Jordan. 



Letter from the State Librarian of Pennsylvania. 

Pennsylvania State Library, 

Harrisburg, May 29th, 1903. 
J. T. Edwards, Esq., 

Randolph, N. Y.: 

My Dear Sir : — We enclose you all the information 
we have been able to secure of your ancestor, James Ed- 
wards, and this is the only information regarding a James 
Edwards of a military character. 

We are very glad to establish for you the fact of his 
military services in both the Colonial War and the Revo- 
lution. As to the French and Indian War, many of those 



THE EDWARDS FAMILY 41 

records are destroyed, and consequently we cannot help 
you in this very much. 

Trusting the certificate of services in the two wars 
may reach you in time, we are 
Very truly yours, 

Thomas L. Montgomery, 

State Librarian. 



Certificate oj Service in the Colonial or Provincial Wars. 

Pennsylvania State Library, 

Harrisburg, May 29th, 1903. 
To Whom it may Concern : 

I hereby certify to the following Colonial or Provin- 
cial service of James Edwards : 

One James Edwards was an officer, a Captain, in 
one of the Associated Companies of Kent County, August, 
1748, in the service of the Province of Pennsylvania. 

For the above reference, see Penna. Archives, second 
series, vol. 2, p. 441, edition 1890. 
Very truly yours, 

Thomas L. Montgomery, 
State Librarian and Editor of Penna. Archives. 



Certificate of Service in the Revolutionary War. 

Pennsylvania State Library, 

Harrisburg, May 29th, 1903. 
To WJiom it may Concern : 

I hereby certify to the following Revolutionary service 
of James Edwards : 

One James Edwards was a private soldier in the War 
of the Revolution, Col. Thomas Proctor's Pennsylvania 



42 THE EDWARDS FAMILY 

Artillery Reg-iment of the Continental Line of the War of 
the Revolution. Oct. 21, 1775, — Oct. 27, 1776. 

For the above reference, see Penna. Archives, second 
series. Vol. xi., p. 214, edition 1880. 
Ver}' truly yours, 

Thomas L. Montgomery, 
State Librarian and Editor Penna. Archives. 



Letter of Explanation. 

4 

In answer to a letter of inquiry concerning the Kent 
County mentioned in the Certificate of Colonial Service, 
Mr. Thomas L. Montgomery replied as follows : 

Pennsylvania State Library, 

Harrisburg, Pa., June 3, 1903. 
Dr. James T. Edwards, 

Randolph, New York : 

My Dear Sir : — During the Colonial period, very 
early, the "Three Lower Counties," (Kent, Sussex and 
New Castle), were controlled by or under the government 
of Pennsylvania, — they were spoken of in connection with 
Pennsylvania in this way : " Pennsylvania and the three 
lower counties," and Pennsylvania paid the men of that 
section who enlisted during the Colonial Wars, as you see 
by the certificate issued to you of James Edwards, as a 
Captain in the early Colonial service. 

Those three counties subsequently formed what is now 
the State of Delaware. The Revolutionary service of 
James Edwards, you notice, was in what is now Penn- 
sylvania. 

Very truly }^ours, 

Thomas L. Montgomery, 

State Librarian. 



THE EDWARDS FAMILY 43 

Letter from the State Librarian of Delaware. 

Mr. Cornelius Frear, State Librarian of Delaware, in 
a letter to me dated June 17, 1903, corroborates the state- 
ment made in the above certificate of the Colonial service 
of James Edwards, and adds : "I find his name in Scharf's 
History of Delaware." 



James Edwards, the old soldier, was a Methodist when 
the members of that denomination were numbered by hun- 
dreds instead of millions. He was greatly respected for 
his consistent, Christian manhood, and many anecdotes 
are related, showing his loyalty to his faith and his strong 
personality. Two or three of these may be of interest here. 

On one occasion, when attending service on Sunday 
in a Baptist church, whether by mistake or out of respect 
to his well known piety does not appear the sacramental 
elements were passed to him. Reverently the old man 
received them, saying audibly as he took them — 

" As in the Christ I do believe, 
This bread aud wine I now receive." 

At one time, while attending a " protracted meeting," 
it chanced that a man who had been imbibing too freely, 
occupied the old-fashioned bench with him. From time 
to time the man would drop into a doze and lean over 
heavily on the old soldier. At length this irritated the 
veteran, and, seeing his companion about to repeat 
the performance, he quickly moved away, letting 
the drunkard fall upon the floor. The poor man half 
sobered by the fall was still more startled by hearing the 
old Captain say in a shrill whisper : " Wake up ! Wake 
up ! There's no sleeping in hell ! " 

In those early days Methodist Quarterly meetings 
were often held at remote points. James Edwards, learn- 



» • • 

• » 

• • • 



44 THE EDWARDS FAMILY 

ing that there was to be one at Mt. Holly, started to walk 
the distance, forty-eight miles, to attend it. Some miles 
beyond Pemberton, becoming very wean,-, he lay down 
beside the road and went to sleep. A party on the way to 
church saw him and on arriving reported to the Governor, 
who was a Methodist and present at the meeting, that they 
had seen an old soldier lying drunk in the corner of a 
fence, and proceeded to describe his appearance. " Drunk ! " 
exclaimed the Governor, " He's drunk with salvation ! 
Take my carriage, drive down and bring him here ! " 

Among the descendants of James Edwards are many 
of his religious faith. While it is well to cherish large 
catholicity of spirit, especially sweet is " the fellowship of 
kindred minds." 

Two things always mingle with the recollections of 
my early days — The faces of the preachers of the New Jer- 
sey Conference and the pages of our religious periodicals. 

The first newspaper I remember to have read was the 
" Christian Advocate and Journal," as it was then called. 
For more than sixty years it has been a pleasant visitor to 
our home — never more valuable and acceptable than now 
[1903] under the editorship of my seminary and college 
classmate and friend, Dr. James M. Buckley. 

James Edwards lived to an advanced age and died in 
Tuckerton, N. J. He sleeps with his kindred in the old 
Methodist churchyard of that place. 

^ " Rest on, embalined and sainted dead, 

1.. T ^" ' Dear as the blood you gave. 

No impious footstep here shall tread 

The herbage of your grave. 
Nor shall your glory be forgot 

While Fame her record keeps, 
Or Honor points the hallowed spot 
Where Valor proudly sleeps." 



o3? 



